# You learn something new every day. Here's my contribution. **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [July 15, 2016, 11:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-learn-something-new-every-day-heres-my-contribution/760012 "2016-07-15T23:02:51Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 19\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![RadicalPi](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/radicalpi/32/9806_2.png) [@RadicalPi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RadicalPi)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2016, 6:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-learn-something-new-every-day-heres-my-contribution/760012/61 "2016-10-10T06:47:06Z")
> [@elbows](#): > > The derogatory word, “pussy” is NOT referencing the female body part. > > It’s derived from pusillanimous, defined as, timid, and lacking courage ! For what it’s worth, the OED does not agree with you. ---
**Author:** ![WildBlueYonder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/ce7236/32.png) [@WildBlueYonder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WildBlueYonder)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2016, 9:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-learn-something-new-every-day-heres-my-contribution/760012/62 "2016-10-10T21:54:52Z")
> [@jtur88](#): > > I think he’s talking about two completely separate spigots, with the hot and cold not mixing before coming out in single stream. but rather two separate streams. > > Common in older houses in America when I was growing up, too. As far as I know, those types of faucets are not code here in Michigan if not everywhere in the US ---
**Author:** ![aurora\_maire](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aurora_maire/32/328_2.png) [@aurora\_maire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aurora_maire)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2016, 2:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-learn-something-new-every-day-heres-my-contribution/760012/63 "2016-10-11T02:55:22Z")
I bought a used car a couple years ago after driving my old car for 15 years. Friday I ran over something metal and punctured a tire. I managed to get the car to a Firestone before it went flat. The mechanic asked me where my tire key was. My what? He explained that it was used to get the lug nuts off and said it was usually kept in the glove box. I asked him to describe it and he couldn’t. I looked through the glove box but I knew nothing weird was in there. Then I took all the stuff out of the center box and there it was. I remember when I bought the car that I wondered what that thing was and figured I probably better keep it. I said to him “well, you learn something new every day”. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Crafter\_Man](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crafter_man/32/458_2.png) [@Crafter\_Man](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crafter_Man)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2016, 11:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-learn-something-new-every-day-heres-my-contribution/760012/64 "2016-10-11T11:18:12Z")
> [@aurora\_maire](#): > > I bought a used car a couple years ago after driving my old car for 15 years. Friday I ran over something metal and punctured a tire. I managed to get the car to a Firestone before it went flat. The mechanic asked me where my tire key was. My what? He explained that it was used to get the lug nuts off and said it was usually kept in the glove box. I asked him to describe it and he couldn’t. I looked through the glove box but I knew nothing weird was in there. Then I took all the stuff out of the center box and there it was. I remember when I bought the car that I wondered what that thing was and figured I probably better keep it. I said to him “well, you learn something new every day”. 😃 And that’s why keyed lug bolts are useless: if a thief wanted to steal your wheels, there’s a 99% chance the key is in your car somewhere. Here’s my contribution: You know those rotary engines on old aircraft? I had always assumed the propeller was attached to the crankshaft. While this is true for most rotary engines, I recently learned from a coworker that, on some engines (like on the P-47??), the crank shaft was stationary and the all of the pistons rotated around it! (And the prop was connected to the rotating pistons.) I find this fascinating. ---
**Author:** ![gnoitall](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/bb73d2/32.png) [@gnoitall](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gnoitall)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2016, 5:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-learn-something-new-every-day-heres-my-contribution/760012/65 "2016-10-11T17:53:55Z")
> [@Crafter\_Man](#): > > You know those rotary engines on old aircraft? I had always assumed the propeller was attached to the crankshaft. While this is true for most rotary engines, I recently learned from a coworker that, on some engines (like on the P-47??), the crank shaft was stationary and the all of the pistons rotated around it! (And the prop was connected to the rotating pistons.) I find this fascinating. Actually, not the P-47, or any aircraft much after World War I. Radial engines with fixed engine blocks and rotating crankshafts were ultimately preferable because rotary engines (like you describe) can only lubricate themselves with oil in a fuel-oil mix, and therefore eventually run out of oil, and the mass of the cylinder block rotating with the propeller gave it terrific gyroscopic torque, which is a huge detriment to performance. ---
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2016, 1:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-learn-something-new-every-day-heres-my-contribution/760012/66 "2016-11-02T01:50:00Z")
Presidential candidate Gary Johnson has climbed the Seven Summits. > **[Gary Johnson | Personal life](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gary_Johnson#Personal_life)** > > Johnson was married to his college girlfriend, Dee Johnson (née Simms; 1952–2006) from 1977 to 2005. As First Lady of New Mexico, she engaged in campaigns against smoking and for breast cancer awareness and oversaw the expansion of the Governor's Mansion. He initiated a separation in May 2005, and four months later announced that they would divorce. At the age of 54, Dee Johnson died unexpectedly on December 22, 2006, her cause of death later attributed to hypertensive he Johnson was an avid tria... :eek: ---
**Author:** ![jtur88](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e9c0ed/32.png) [@jtur88](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jtur88)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2016, 3:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-learn-something-new-every-day-heres-my-contribution/760012/67 "2016-11-02T15:04:50Z")
Established MLB baseball players break out a new pair of spiked shoes for every game. They get them free from the manufactures, and have, like, a pallet of shoe boxes sitting next to their locker. In the minor leagues, they probably wear the same pair of spikes for a whole season. And have to buy their own. With their p altry wages. In the lower minors (Class single-A), a player makes less money than his little sister who works at Burger King. ---
**Author:** ![Richard\_Pearse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/richard_pearse/32/13144_2.png) [@Richard\_Pearse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Richard_Pearse)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2016, 3:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-learn-something-new-every-day-heres-my-contribution/760012/68 "2016-11-02T15:41:28Z")
You would think a brand new pair wouldn’t be as comfortable as a pair that had been worn in a little. ---
**Author:** ![Mean\_Mr.Mustard](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mean_mr.mustard/32/3865_2.png) [@Mean\_Mr.Mustard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mean_Mr.Mustard)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2016, 5:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-learn-something-new-every-day-heres-my-contribution/760012/69 "2016-11-02T17:20:40Z")
> [@Baker](#): > > Ok, I knew this about two cities, but how many who don’t live in the central USA know that there are two cities name Kansas City? There’s the Kansas side and the Missouri side. In some places they are seperated by the river, and in others you can walk across the street and be in a different city and state. > > Back when Kansas still didn’t have liquor by the drink my sister was a pharmacy student, and when the weekend arrived they’d go to the other side of the street in Missouri, which was lined with bars! I went to Kansas City on a business trip several years ago. To this day I don’t know if I was in Missouri or Kansas. mmm ---
**Author:** ![Pleonast](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pleonast/32/1183_2.png) [@Pleonast](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pleonast)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2016, 6:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-learn-something-new-every-day-heres-my-contribution/760012/70 "2016-11-02T18:32:11Z")
I recently learned that a blue reflector embedded in the street indicates that a fire hydrant is located at the nearest curb. Useful for firefighters to glance up and down the street to find the closest one. Something that I noticed recently but don’t know the answer to: in the rear window of some cars is a white disk with a black square in the center and a black line connecting the square to the edge of the disk. Anyone know what that is? ---
**Author:** ![Haunted\_Pasta](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/94ad74/32.png) [@Haunted\_Pasta](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Haunted_Pasta)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2016, 6:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-learn-something-new-every-day-heres-my-contribution/760012/71 "2016-11-02T18:53:57Z")
Those big birds you see on the beach? Gray back, white chest, big yellow beak? Always trying to mooch food? They are gulls. Just gulls. They are _not_ “seagulls.” At least, not if you want to be correct, albeit pedantic. ---
**Author:** ![Melbourne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b5e925/32.png) [@Melbourne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Melbourne)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2016, 7:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-learn-something-new-every-day-heres-my-contribution/760012/72 "2016-11-02T19:56:01Z")
Ok, this one is regional, so of limited relevance to any of you, but I invite you to check out your own stores because I’m so amazed: The milk in the [Coles home brand] 1 litre bottles (1 quart bottles) is different, a different product, a different kind of milk, than the milk in the identically branded 2 litre and 3 litre bottles. We get 3.4% fat in the 2 and 3 litre bottles, 3.6% fat in the 1 litre (quart) bottle. ---
**Author:** ![jtur88](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e9c0ed/32.png) [@jtur88](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jtur88)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2016, 8:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-learn-something-new-every-day-heres-my-contribution/760012/73 "2016-11-02T20:24:32Z")
> [@Pleonast](#): > > Something that I noticed recently but don’t know the answer to: in the rear window of some cars is a white disk with a black square in the center and a black line connecting the square to the edge of the disk. Anyone know what that is? Uber ID. [![](https://therideshareguy.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/uber-light-262x300.jpg) ](https://therideshareguy.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/uber-light-262x300.jpg) ---
**Author:** ![Doctor\_Jackson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/doctor_jackson/32/32_2.png) [@Doctor\_Jackson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Doctor_Jackson)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2016, 8:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-learn-something-new-every-day-heres-my-contribution/760012/74 "2016-11-02T20:46:44Z")
> [@jtur88](#): > > Established MLB baseball players break out a new pair of spiked shoes for every game. They get them free from the manufactures, and have, like, a pallet of shoe boxes sitting next to their locker. In the minor leagues, they probably wear the same pair of spikes for a whole season. And have to buy their own. With their p altry wages. In the lower minors (Class single-A), a player makes less money than his little sister who works at Burger King. A lot of misinformation mixed in here. Some MLB players have big shoe contracts and they do get the shoes free. Shoe companies use that as advertising. Mostly, though, the players get money from the deal. If there are pallets involved it’s for storing the money. The players do not wear a new pair of shoes every game. A typical MLB player goes through a pair of game cleats about once a month. Batting practice shoes can last all year. A minor league player may go longer. Clubhouse attendants at all levels clean them (and the uniforms) after each game, a practice for which players pay “[clubhouse](http://usatoday30.usatoday.com/sports/tenworstjobs-6-clubhouse.htm) [dues](http://insidetheclubhouse.mlblogs.com/2010/12/07/wth-is-a-clubbie/)” out of their own pocket. > [@](#): > > Niland’s job never ends. He does errands, recommends restaurants, makes airport runs to pick up girlfriends and family and instructs players on how to get their utilities turned on at their apartment. He also plans pre- and postgame meals, washes stains from uniforms, polishes shoes and keeps the clubhouse tidy and stocked with everything from Twinkies to cereal. Baseballs, socks and batting gloves, on the other hand (ha!), are generally one game use items at the MLB level. They are then sent to the AAA team for further wear. From there, they get passed down through the organization as long as they have useful life left. If they make it all the way through and are still useable they are donated to charities. It’s a hand-me-down process at its finest. It is a bit different at the minor league level and varies by team and minor league level. Some teams provide full uniforms including cleats and practice uni’s. If you want a specific brand of cleats, though, you are likely on your own. Here is a fascinating and factual account of [life in the minor leagues](https://thunderbaseball.wordpress.com/2010/08/15/minor-league-baseball-investing-in-the-future/). > [@](#): > > Some position players can incur an additional expense: Bats. While the organization does provide gear that ranges anywhere from batting gloves to cleats, when it comes to bats, many players are particular about their lumber and insist on a certain model…which is great, but it also comes out of pocket if not a pro stock model provided by the team. Your point about minor league salaries, though, is valid. The average monthly salary for a minor league player is $1,250 to $2,500 per month, gross. Nobody gets rich playing minor league baseball. ---
**Author:** ![Xema](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/9de053/32.png) [@Xema](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Xema)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2016, 10:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-learn-something-new-every-day-heres-my-contribution/760012/75 "2016-11-02T22:39:54Z")
> [@panache45](#): > > And you should also have learned that “Voila!” is not spelled the same as “viola,” a string instrument. Although it is a stringed instrument, in this context a viola makes a sort of “whooshing” sound. ---
**Author:** ![Emily\_Litella](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/emily_litella/32/3370_2.png) [@Emily\_Litella](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Emily_Litella)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2016, 12:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-learn-something-new-every-day-heres-my-contribution/760012/76 "2016-11-03T00:55:43Z")
> [@Haunted\_Pasta](#): > > Those big birds you see on the beach? Gray back, white chest, big yellow beak? Always trying to mooch food? They are gulls. Just gulls. > > They are _not_ “seagulls.” At least, not if you want to be correct, albeit pedantic. In the movie “The Perfect Storm” there’s a line: “Blow your air-horn and throw a wave to the lighthouse keeper’s kid on Thatcher Island. Then the birds show up: black backs, herring gulls, **big dump ducks** ”. For the longest time I googled and searched for dump ducks to find out what they were, until one day I saw all these gulls flying over a dump, then it hit me. ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2016, 5:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-learn-something-new-every-day-heres-my-contribution/760012/77 "2016-11-03T05:42:43Z")
> [@Haunted\_Pasta](#): > > Those big birds you see on the beach? Gray back, white chest, big yellow beak? Always trying to mooch food? They are gulls. Just gulls. > > They are _not_ “seagulls.” At least, not if you want to be correct, albeit pedantic. Jesus, here we go again! ---
**Author:** ![Mister\_Rik](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mister_rik/32/491_2.png) [@Mister\_Rik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mister_Rik)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2016, 6:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-learn-something-new-every-day-heres-my-contribution/760012/78 "2016-11-03T06:28:49Z")
> [@Hari\_Seldon](#): > > When I visited a friend in 1970 who had recently moved to England, he told me that mixing faucets were illegal there. Apparently, there was a fear that microbes could develop in the hot water tank, move into the mixing faucet, move into the cold water supply and contaminate the neighborhood. All this in a moving stream of water. I kid you not. The current thing is that there may be lead in your hot water tank, so fill your cooking pots only from the cold water tap, > [@Richard\_Pearse](#): > > I learned recently that “gaol” and “jail” are pronounced the same way. I’m 42 and had always thought “gaol” was an archaic spelling _and_ pronunciation of today’s “jail”. Heh. I’m 50, and reading history and fantasy, I’d always pronounced “gaol” as “gowl”. I only recently learned that “gaol” and “jail” are pronounced the same! > [@darazusa](#): > > charo can play the guitar. apparently the everyone knew but me. I know, right? I was a little boy in the 1970s, and my exposure to Charo was all “funny lady on TV”. Fast forward to YouTube era, and … [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/3bkw7YFHQyo/maxresdefault.jpg "Charo & Guitar - Granada") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3bkw7YFHQyo) ---
**Author:** ![Pleonast](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pleonast/32/1183_2.png) [@Pleonast](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pleonast)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2016, 2:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-learn-something-new-every-day-heres-my-contribution/760012/79 "2016-11-03T14:27:38Z")
> [@jtur88](#): > > Uber ID. > [http://therideshareguy.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/uber-light-262x300.jpg](http://therideshareguy.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/uber-light-262x300.jpg) That’s it! I learned my one new thing for today. Can I go back to bed now? 😛 [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-learn-something-new-every-day-heres-my-contribution/760012.md?page=3)